Don't think it can't happen to you!

[ToddG]

If he hadn't been shot, he probably would have had a heart attack.

A student in a NM class I taught a couple years ago had a similar story. He got struck in the eye and had to be hospitalized. When they scanned him to assess the extent of the damage, they discovered a brain tumor. If he hadn't been hit in the eye, they never would have had reason to discover the tumor until too late.

Awesome guy (and good shooter) who is alive and doing great today. I saw him at the SHOT Show earlier this year. Genuinely good dude...

[Shokr21]

It was before the Match, before sign in, so he was allowed to shoot the Match. Hard to DQ when the Match had yet to even be constructed, let alone begin.

I personally would not have felt safe being on a squad with him, that day.

We all have off days, where things aren't clicking. Having a mistake as grave as an ND in your car, parked at a match site is a sign to just pack up and go home.

True there are no stipulations for dq before a match starts, but I would like to think that if I were that man, I would have removed myself from any gun handling that day in front of others. Either gone home, or just help score and paste.

Thanks for the story, it's always important to remain vigilant.

[ford.304]

In my opinion, if IDPA intends to stay true to it's principles, but is married to the concept of the cold range, it needs to have a rule like USPSA's rule 2.5

I cannot agree with this enough. I don't see how you can talk about safety, while inviting a bunch of CCW advocates to your place and not providing them with an obvious and marked way to clear themselves before they come into your "cold" range, or to go back to hot on the way out.

And mark it clearly! Every match there's someone showing up for their first time, who's trying to get used to carry and of course brings his hot gun into his first "defensive pistol" match, and he either finds out at the last second and goes messing around with a loaded gun in his car, or an RO has to take a break from getting things setup to go clear him.

[Chuck Haggard]

I see a lot of shooters in both IDPA and USPSA do the speed unload and show clear thing, and just sort of speed dry fire to get holstered and off the range.

I wait for the commands and go by the numbers, and take aim into a safe backstop before dry firing. Seems stupid to set yourself up for a training scar, and it's a waste of a perfectly good dry fire opportunity to just jerk it off and speed holster.

[kmartphoto]

This is why I don't like pulling the trigger as part of the unload process. Either I checked he gun properly, or I didn't. All pressing the trigger does is give me an opportunity to find out I didn't in an unwanted ballistic-y kinda way.

I get it and tend to agree... but a bullet into the backstop is better than other places.

Although realistically a gun in a holster is just as safe hot or not. And you just put a hot gun in there right after "load & make ready".

[Mr_White]

In my opinion, if IDPA intends to stay true to it's principles, but is married to the concept of the cold range, it needs to have a rule like USPSA's rule 2.5

Absolutely agree. Because of that rule in USPSA I haven't had to do any sneaky loading/unloading in my car or anything.

[kmartphoto]

In my opinion, if IDPA intends to stay true to it's principles, but is married to the concept of the cold range, it needs to have a rule like USPSA's rule 2.5

Absolutely agree. Because of that rule in USPSA I haven't had to do any sneaky loading/unloading in my car or anything.

Isn't this more a function of the range, or the SO's making the procedures known?

For example I have been going to a large local match for over a year now. I knew that it was a cold range and would download outside the gate before I went in or in my car, or I would carry a different gun than my match gun and lock it in my car. I recently joined that range and it explained to me that I was just supposed to go into an empty bay/pit and download facing the berm. This was the first time I had heard that and it makes sense... woulda been easier if that knowledge were widespread.

[Mr_White]

Isn't this more a function of the range, or the SO's making the procedures known?

For example I have been going to a large local match for over a year now. I knew that it was a cold range and would download outside the gate before I went in or in my car, or I would carry a different gun than my match gun and lock it in my car. I recently joined that range and it explained to me that I was just supposed to go into an empty bay/pit and download facing the berm. This was the first time I had heard that and it makes sense... woulda been easier if that knowledge were widespread.

You make a good point there. The loading and unloading procedure is not very visible or heavily advertised. I avail myself of the rule because I did my homework and read the USPSA rule book before I went so I knew how it was supposed to work. I also contacted a person I know who is heavily involved in local USPSA and talked with him to make sure I would be able to get unloaded at the beginning and reloaded at the end of the match legitimately, rather than surreptitiously.

[gringop]

I'm gonna have to go with Todd and the "Don't press the trigger unless you intend for the gun to fire." I unload my gun seated in my car in the parking lot at matches just like I unload it at home several times a week for various admin functions. No trigger pulling is involved.

The "hammer down" during the ULASC is there for liability reasons and builds terrible habits if you don't actively reject it at all other times.

When I teach classes and discuss this, I can see heads shaking no because it goes against what Dad and Grampaw always taught, that you always pull the trigger after unloading because it "relaxes the spring" or because it's being done on every stage at matches.

Bad habits are bad habits whether they come from Dad, Grampaw or competition.

Gringop

[Josh Runkle]

A student in a NM class I taught a couple years ago had a similar story. He got struck in the eye and had to be hospitalized. When they scanned him to assess the extent of the damage, they discovered a brain tumor. If he hadn't been hit in the eye, they never would have had reason to discover the tumor until too late.

Awesome guy (and good shooter) who is alive and doing great today. I saw him at the SHOT Show earlier this year. Genuinely good dude...

Can you expound on how this injury occurred?